Edible packaging

Packaging you can eat is said to be the next big thing. Question is, after storage and handling, would you want to?

Pouring your milk then eating the bottle sounds less than tempting, but edible packaging is being touted as food technology’s next Big Thing.

It’s not entirely new, of course. Heston Blumenthal’s been at it for years, wrapping palatable paper around packets of soup and urging us to eat salted caramels wrapper and all. Anyone who has eaten turron also knows the slightly odd sensation of rice paper melting in their mouth. But two US companies are currently vying to be the first to commercially exploit the “untapped market” for wrappers you can munch.